Amelia’s expression remained as calm and indifferent as ever. She met Max’s gaze without the slightest shift in emotion.
"It doesn’t matter what you think."
Max gave a slight nod. "True." He said as he activated all his agility skills.
His figure blurred. In an instant, he was upon her. His sword, laced with 20% Fusion State aura, shot forward, aimed directly at her heart.
But just as the tip of his blade was about to pierce through—
Clang!
A sharp, metallic ring echoed as his sword struck an unseen force.
The void ripples violently, like a single disturbance sending waves across a still sea. The impact was so abrupt, so solid, that Max was forced to take a step—or two—back.
His gaze flickered as he lowered his sword and ran a hand through the air before him. That was when he felt it—an invisible wall standing firm between him and Amelia.
It was strange. It felt solid, undeniable, yet it remained completely invisible to the naked eye.
"This is what I call a Space Barrier," Amelia said coolly. "It’s formed from my Space Aura, which naturally leaks from my body. But once I learned to control it, I found a better use for it."
She met his eyes, her tone still emotionless. "I don’t waste my time on opponents who can’t break through this barrier. If they can’t, they’re useless—because their attacks will never reach me."
Max raised a brow, a flicker of amusement in his gaze. ’Damn, she’s arrogant… but I guess she has the right to be.’
His fingers trailed along the space barrier, feeling its unyielding presence. It was unlike anything he had encountered before.
’Can my physical strength alone break this barrier?’ A sudden thought flashed through Max’s mind, and without hesitation, he unleashed the full power of his fifteen Draconic Essences.
A surge of raw energy coursed through his veins, flooding every fiber of his being. Thanks to his three hundred Dragon Scales, he felt no backlash—no strain, no exhaustion.
Instead, a newfound clarity washed over him, his control over his sheer brute force sharper than ever.
Clenching his fist tightly, Max steadied himself. His body coiled like a drawn bow, his muscles tightening in perfect synchronization. He funneled every ounce of power into his right fist, compressing the overwhelming strength of fifteen Draconic Essences into a single point.
As he did, his hand began to change—the skin darkening into a deep crimson, as if molten lava surged just beneath the surface. The ground beneath him shuddered, cracks splintering through the tiles as they struggled to withstand his mere presence. Even the air itself twisted, warping in response to the force condensed within his strike.
’Before, I couldn’t fully control this raw strength… but now, I can compress it all into a single point.’ Max mused, feeling the terrifying power pulsating within his fist.
Max shot a quick glance at Amelia before stepping forward, his left hand brushing against the unseen barrier. Without hesitation, he clenched his right fist and drove it forward with unrelenting force.
BAM!
A deafening impact echoed through the void.
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The first barrier shattered instantly, collapsing like fragile glass under his sheer power. But before he could revel in his success, his fist slammed into the second barrier and—stopped. The invisible wall resisted, trapping his hand mid-air as waves of energy rippled outward, distorting the space around him.
Gritting his teeth, Max roared, "Break it!" His muscles tensed as he poured more strength into his punch, refusing to be held back.
CRACK!
The second barrier gave way, splitting apart like a fractured mirror. His fist surged forward, now colliding with the final barrier. The moment his knuckles struck, an overwhelming force lashed back at him, far stronger than anything he had faced before.
His entire arm trembled under the impact, and for a split second, it felt as if he would be hurled backward by the sheer force of his own attack.
Seeing this, Max loosened his clenched fist and placed both hands flat against the final barrier. A frown creased his forehead as a realization dawned upon him.
’This last barrier… it can’t be broken by brute force alone.’
Closing his eyes, he let his mind drift into deep thought. Ever since Amelia had unleashed her Space Aura against Bruce in their battle, Max had felt a strange, almost instinctive resonance with it. It wasn’t just a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
His class was SSS-Rank Dimensional Keeper, and from everything he had theorized, its true essence had to be linked to space, void, or dimensions as a whole. This was more than just a vague intuition—he knew it in his bones.
More than that, Max had always wondered why his flame affinity had been abysmal when he took the Phoenix Order Guild’s recruitment test. Back then, he had thought it was simply bad luck, an unfortunate mismatch.
But now, he understood—his affinity for the Space Element far surpassed anything else. It wasn’t that he was weak in other elements. It was that Space was his true domain, his Supreme Rank affinity—one that outshone all others.
Yes, he had comprehended the auras of Sword, Flames, and Lightning—forcing himself to master them through countless years of relentless training in the Dimension of Time.
But Space… Space was different. He hadn’t needed to force it. It was already a part of him.
As Max’s hands pressed against the invisible barrier, he felt it—an almost imperceptible ripple, like the surface of a calm lake disturbed by the faintest breeze.
Space wasn’t just an external force; it was something he instinctively understood, something that resonated deep within him.
The barrier wasn’t solid. It wasn’t even a true boundary. It was a veil, a thin layer of resistance that bent under his touch, shifting ever so slightly, acknowledging him.
Max exhaled, letting go of distractions, allowing himself to sink into the sensation. His consciousness drifted, not outward, but inward—into the mechanisms of space itself. It was vast, yet intimate, stretching infinitely yet feeling like a second skin. Every fiber of his being pulsed with the realization.
He wasn’t just touching space. He was part of it. And for the first time, he truly comprehended what that meant.